‘The presidency of Nigeria is not, and will never be the birth right of one section of this country, no matter how much propaganda they spread,’ says Dumebi Kachikwu, Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in 2023 presidential elections, adding that there is a lot of deliberate misinformation going on by ‘agents of destabilisation who are masquerading as a political coalition.’
The former presidential candidate who spoke at a world press conference in Abuja on Thursday, distinguished between political coalition and political gang, saying: ‘There is a clear difference between a political coalition and a political gang; The first has noble ideals while the gang seeks power for personal gains. What we have here today is a gang unable to survive outside political office seeking to hijack the ADC as a means to revive their personal economies.’
While saying that the political gang that has hijacked ADC are truly on a rescue mission, he pointed out that the mission of the gang is to ‘rescue themselves from the harsh economic realities which they themselves created’ for the country.
He reasserted his right to contest the presidency of the country, saying: ‘I am an Ibo man from Onicha Ugbo in Delta State of Nigeria. I am a full-blooded Nigerian and have the right to aspire to the highest office in the land.’
Responding to the accusation being made by a section of critics, Kachikuwu said: ‘They accuse me of being a paid spokesperson for President Tinubu and my response is this; it will be an honour to be a spokesperson for the President of the largest black nation on earth but unfortunately, that is not who I am. Political jobbers who have no visible means of livelihood are always eager to tar others, but I remain unfazed.’
He challenged the David Mark led coalition of the ADC to tow the line of honour, saying: ‘They, with the active support of their cohorts in the media now say they are the ADC: they are not. I can call myself the President of America till I am blue in the face, but it doesn’t make it so.’
‘They are offering some of the state chairmen as much as N20,000,000 to resign their positions which goes to show that their intentions are not honourable.’
‘My question to this gang is this, if you succeed in paying off all the ADC party officials at state and local government levels to resign, what next? Our constitution still doesn’t allow you to assume those offices. This is the plain and simple truth. Your money will get you nowhere in the ADC.’
Addressing the politicians of the coalition, Kachikwu stated: ‘If you have to build your rescue mission on fraudulent misrepresentation, it just shows who you really are. The imposter who claims he is their spokesperson made bold to say that I am merely the former presidential candidate of the party and not a party official.
While describing the argument as pedestrian, Kachikwu pointed out that only party officials can challenge party affairs, adding that such argument should be dismissed as an elitist ignorance that brought Nigeria to its current sad state where it is erroneously believed that Nigeria is only for the rich and powerful.
‘The fake coalition is staging events in different parts of the country where they pay poor Nigerians to say they are decamping from other parties to the ADC. This is the typical strategy of these old politicians, and we have had enough of it. They need to sing a new song.’
The former presidential flagbearer described former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as a man ‘whose antecedents clearly shows he doesn’t believe anyone from the southern part of Nigeria is deserving of being president of Nigeria orchestrated this charade for his personal benefit.’
Atiku nearly truncated President Obasanjo’s return for a second term because he believed the seat was his, Kachikwu said, adding that ‘President Jonathan suffered the same fate, and then after eight years of late President Buhari as President, the same Atiku believed it was morally right for him to be the presidential flag bearer of the PDP in the last presidential elections.’
‘This was most unjust and unfair and led to the current disintegration of that party. He is now using some charlatans to deceive former governor Peter Obi that only he Atiku has what it takes to win an election because he can get majority of the North to vote for him.’
‘This is most uncharitable of him. If the former Vice President says my assertions are not true and that all he wants is a better Nigeria, I then challenge him today to publicly declare that equity demands that the presidency should stay in the South for another six years,’ he stated.
He warned the old politicians to stay off the ADC, saying: ‘I want to reiterate that the ADC is not for sale and is not an old people’s home. We are a party that believes Nigeria needs fresh faces, fresh ideals and fresh ideas.’
According to Kachikwu, ‘the current political war is the war of the old for the old; it is not our fight.’
